believe
by C.J Lewis
Summary: Mary Parker thought that she was going live her life like every other normal person. Graduate high school, go to college, get a job, get married, ect. But life doesn't always work out the way we always want it to. Eventual OC/? "You always believe I could do the impossible and now that I've become it, I need you to continue to believe in me."
1. Before

**Year: 2010**

When I was younger, my parents would tell me the story of a little girl who fell from the heavens above us onto Earth. They would say that this angel's mother and father wanted her to find her true family within the ordinary mortal people of this small planet. I would ask why they made their own child go away from them. It never made any sense to me at a young age, it still doesn't.

I lost them both almost 2 years ago and then I was moved from my home in Starling City to Central City's Orphanage for Girls. The people who had placed me there would repeatedly tell me that, "there are more opportunities there for someone like you". Someone like me? What's that supposed to mean? Just because I'm different, it doesn't mean that I need to be separated into my own category. Talking about categories, I'm in the lonely, parentless, teenage girl category. Wow, that's sort of a mouth full.

Today is marking my 18th year of being on this planet, my 2nd birthday without my parents being here with me. I will always miss them smiling, laughing and singing me Happy Birthday in the most tone deaf voices I have ever heard. I know they wouldn't want me to cry when I think about them, they'd want me to smile about the memories that we made together. They wouldn't want me to give up on my dreams just because they passed on from the world and left me behind.

"MAAAAR-RY!"

The loud screech of what sounded like a dying cat, was Mrs Batch calling me from the bottom of the stairs. I groaned as I looked down at my wrist, the metal hands of the clock signalling that the time was 7:30 in the morning. I quickly grabbed my school bag from the floor next to my desk, unplugging my iPhone 3GS from the charging port and raced out the room. Skipping down the stairs, Mrs Batch greeted me with a furious look.

"Why did I wake up to a disgusting mess in the kitchen this morning?" she asked with a calm, but angry, tone.

"What? I didn't do anything!" I cried, throwing my hand out towards the closed door of the kitchen. "It wasn't me, I swear!"

"Oh, really?" Mrs Batch raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms. "Go and take a look for yourself then, Ms Parker, because this has your name written all over it."

Heaving out an irritated sigh and with eyes wide in exasperation, I pushed open the brown wooden door.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MARY!"

I yelped in surprise, putting a hand to my chest. "Girls," I breathed out at the 2 dozen faces that beamed at me. "You scared the hell outta me."

Mrs Batch came in behind me with a smile bright enough to light the entire city and placed a single hand on my back. The other hand was holding a small gift wrapped in dark blue tissue paper with a red ribbon hugging the present neatly. I narrowed my eyes at her and the girls around me. "I thought I told you guys not to get me anything," I commented, taking the gift from her hand.

"It's not from us, sweetheart," Ms Batch replied softly. "It came in the mail."

I kept my gaze on the present and glanced up quickly at everyone in the room. Seeing they were all as curious as I was to find out what was inside. With a delicate touch, I slowly began to unwrap the thin paper. A metal key fell into my hand, cool and smooth, along with a slip of paper.

 _He was saving this for your 18th. I'm sorry he couldn't be here to give it to you._

 _~ M_

With a sharp intake of breath, I flipped over the card and found an address printed neatly on the back.

"What is it? Can I see?" A few of the kids chirped, trying to see the silver key that lay in my palm. The key had his two initials carved into them on one side and mine on the other.

"It's a key..." I paused for a moment, flipping the card and checking it again. "To an apartment."

Ms Batch's mouth dropped open slightly and her eyes widened. "Do you have a rich boyfriend that we don't know about?" She asked sternly, placing her hands on her hips.

"No, he was just a good friend I had back in Starling," I responded quietly, taking a sharp intake of breath.

"Well, how 'bout we all go check it out after school, sweetheart?" Ms Batch said, looking down at her watch. "Speaking of which you should leave now, you don't want to be late! Girls, don't forget your lunches, they're on the bench."

I eventually ended up missing the bus, don't ask me how, but missing buses is almost like my superpower. I've rightfully named myself a professional bus misser. I am now running to school, with my bag slung over one shoulder and the heavy books hitting my back with every step. In all honesty, this is the only way I am able to keep fit, considering that this is a common situation for me.

As I flung myself around a blind corner, my body collided with something pushing it to the ground and falling on top of it. The soft thing under me groaned in pain, making me gasp and use my arms to push myself off of it.

"Oh my god!" I exclaimed, recognising the person who I had plummeted into. "Barry, I am so sorry! Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

I outstretched my hand and he grabbed it, pulling himself to his feet. Rubbing the back of his head, he pulled it back to see if there was any blood.

"I'm fine, just a few scratches," he said simply, dusting the dirt off his clothes. "Running to school, again?"

I nodded, quickly wiping away the beads of sweat that had formed on my forehead and glancing at the watch on her wrist, her eyes widened. "Shit," she swore, adjusting the straps of her backpack on her shoulders. "I'm gonna be late. Sorry for knocking you over, Barry!"

I began sprinting again, looking back at him quickly to see his raised hand waving slightly. I made it to school eventually, surprisingly with time to spare, and fixed up my windswept appearance in the mirror of the bathroom. Taking a few deep breaths, I checked over my appearance one last time and pulled open the door to get back into the school hallway.

* * *

Hey guys,

I finally finished rewriting the first chapter of believe, which now has a less of a dark theme that the previous version had... What I am doing with this rewrite is that I'm practically changing the whole story, but keeping the character. I will probably be keeping some chapters, but I'm just trying to make this story better.

Leave a review telling me what you think.


	2. waking up

**Year: 2014**

A flash of lightning brightened up the dark bedroom for a moment, amplifying the shadows and making them crawl along the wall. I was lying in my bed with the covers over my head, like a child, using the blankets to shield myself from my fears. Two earbuds were shoved in my ears, playing loud music to drown out the thunder and trying to wash away the thoughts of the events of the day.

Although, through the music and the thunderstorm, what happened floated back into the front of my mind as I started to drift into a deep sleep. Filled with dreams and nightmares.

 _"Don't cry, sweetheart," a sweet voice cooed to me, over the sounds of distant explosions. "You're going to be fine. Everything is okay."_

 _The woman's face hovered over me, slightly blurred. I felt like I knew her, she was familiar to me. A white light surrounded her features._

 _"Goodbye, my child."_

 _Darkness._

This is the dream that I'd been having since I was a child. This woman's voice had been haunting my thoughts for the past 22 years of my life. This single dream is the only one that I've ever been able to remember in complete detail, but tonight, something was amiss.

 _The darkness quickly morphed and swirled into a building, more specifically, the roof of the 23-story building that I worked in. My lunch was clutched tightly in between both hands as I walked closer to the edge. Sitting down on the concrete ground, I placed my plastic container filled with food on the prism that surrounded the perimeter of the roof's surface and relaxed as a soft, tickling breeze of cold air brushed against my cheeks, turning them a slight pink colour._

 _The grey sky began to open, letting small droplets of water fall back down to the Earth's surface. I laid back and stared up at the storm clouds as the beginnings of the downpour hit my face. Then, as if a shower had been turned on, the rain became increasingly heavier and consistent, drenching me in a few seconds._

 _Standing up with the intention to get out of the torrential rainfall, a unfamiliar voice sounded from behind me._

 _"Time to fly, Mary."_

 _Those words echoed in my mind as I attempted to turn around to see the source of the voice, but two hands roughly gripped the back of my jacket and, with inhuman strength, threw me over the edge of the building._

I shot awake with a gasp, a cold sweat forming on my forehead. The sheets on my bed were tangled around my feet and I was now sprawled on the floor next to my bed. This dream was new and almost as haunting as the only other dream I'd ever had.

I ran a hand through my messy hair and looked at the time on my phone. It was still early into the night, the moment I walked through the door of my apartment, I went to bed.

My stomach growled and ached, begging for food and disrupting me from my thoughts. Sighing, I untangled my feet from the sheets and stood up, walking to the kitchen. With my newly acquired, totally healthy, packet of crisps, I migrated to the living room and sat crosslegged on the floor with the junk food in my lap. I gazed out of the massive window, that took up an entire wall of the room, and watched the droplets of water trickle down the surface, what was left of the previous rainfall. For a while, I just ate and stared out at the twinkling city lights, it was only broken when a bright orange light shot into the sky from S.T.A.R Laboratories, making the storm clouds spike with electricity.

A wave of of light spread out across the city, it only took a few seconds to reach me. I was standing by then and the moment the shockwave touched the window, it shattered and pushed me back. My body slid across the polished floor, only stopping when it collided with the wall opposite to where I was standing prior to the explosion.

I blacked out, feeling a wall in my mind begin to crack and lost memories leak through.

 _A falling sensation, a red glowing light, crashing, crawling out of something, my parents._

I didn't understand the flashes, when I came to I was afraid to say the least. There was a massive indentation in the wall where body impacted it. I had a slight headache in my temples, but my hitting the wall was not the cause. That amount of force should have caused me to have, at the least, a bruise.

With this came the realisation, for the second time that day, that something was wrong with me. I closed my eyes once again, a dream quickly swirling through my mind.

 _A building, the roof above the 23 floor. I walked closer to the edge. Pink cheeks. Grey sky. Rain. Storm clouds. An unfamiliar voice. Time to fly, Mary. Two rough hands. Not human. Thrown off roof. Falling. Hitting the ground._

Now my mind had come to realise. This was not a dream. This was a memory of the events that happened today. I shouldn't be alive. I walked away unscathed and I didn't understand why. I should be dead.

* * *

Leave a review, telling me what you think, if I've made any mistakes or if I should change something.


	3. pain into power

Quite a bit can change in nine months I've discovered. I've lost about 6 jobs, I've been with and broken up with about 3 different guys and I've pretty much cut myself off from the world.

Why? Because the night of the incident at S.T.A.R Labs changed me and, at the moment, I don't think it was for the better. I have dived into a world of seclusion, I only leave my apartment when necessary. I'm punishing myself for something I can't control.

Things have been happening to me. Things that I can't even begin to understand. It happens at random moments and I don't know how to make it stop. I hear things, voices, screaming, crying, all at the same time. They flood my eardrums and make my head feel like it's about to explode. Like the sounds are going to scramble my mind and leave me lost, trapped within my body.

A light knocking on my door was suddenly amplified drowning out the sounds of anguish and pain that were driving me closer to the edge of insanity and snapping me out of my daze. I uncurled my body slowly and stood up from the couch, making my way towards the apartment door. The cold polished floor numbed my feet as they moved robotically across the room, with a single hand outstretched. I wrapped my fingers around the door knob, whilst using my other hand to hold a blanket around my body. Taking a deep breath, I began to edge the door open, only for it to be stopped by the chain lock.

It took me a few moments to let my brain process who was standing out in the hall. First I was confused as to why he was here and then, I remembered an important detail.

"Barry..." I spoke softly, examining him through the crack of the door. "You're awake."

My mind was swirling with emotions, my stupid body's reaction was to simply slam the door shut in his face. I stood there staring at the wooden wall now separating us, wondering if he was really on the other side and not just a figment of my imagination. Unlocking the door, I flung it open again to see if he was still standing there.

He was. Barry Allen. His eyes wide with worry and shock, watching the emotions on my face carefully, as if I would break at any given moment. I gave him the same expression, trying to figure out if my breaking mind was playing torturous tricks on me. I soon realised it wasn't when I prodded his shoulder with a single finger and it came in contact with his shirt.

"Oh my god," I muttered, my eyes beginning to sting with tears. "You're really here. How long have you been awake?"

"A few hours," He said casually, shrugging his shoulders.

"A few hours?!" I almost screamed, eyes bulging out of my head. "Barry, you should be resting, not out and about roaming Central City!" At this point I started to freak out. "You need to sit down. I'll make you something to eat. Come inside."

I pulled him into my cold apartment and smoothly stepped over the messes with expertise as I dragged him towards the couch, dropping my blanket in the process. I threw him down on the black leather couch, causing him to bounce slightly and lose his balance. I rushed into the kitchen, almost tripping over my own feet.

"Uh, do you want tea, coffee or water?" I called out to him, pulling a mug and a glass out of the cupboard. "What do you want to eat? Do you want to lay down?"

"Mary, I'm fine."

"What?" I said slowly, as he appeared next to me and remove the cups from my shaking hands and placed them on the counter.

"I'm okay, completely recovered," Barry stated, pulling me into a hug as my body started shaking with sobs. Another thing I haven't done in nine months is cry. I had bottled up all my emotions and now they were all came crashing down on me. "Everything's going to be okay, Mary. I promise."

He held me in his arms until my racking sobs turned into soft hiccups and by then, he had moved us back to my couch.

"Iris told me you haven't really been yourself since the explosion," Barry began, rubbing my arm in comfort. "She said you haven't been able to keep a job and you barely leave your apartment. What's going on, Spidey?"

I chuckled softly at the nickname. He'd been calling me that since I first introduced myself to him.

* * *

 _I was sitting in a park near the orphanage. Mrs Batch told me not to wander too far because I was still unfamiliar with the city._

 _The park calmed my rushing mind drowning out my thoughts with the sights of children playing, couples walking down the paths hand-in-hand and the green crisp scenery. The smells of freshly cut grass and flowers filled my senses along with the feeling of a cold breeze kissing my cheeks, turning them a slight pink._

 _I sat alone on a park bench, just simply watching the world go by and people live their lives. My concentration was soon cut short, when a man sat down on the bench next to me. My eyes snapped to him as he slumped into the public, outdoor chair._

 _When he finally noticed me staring at him, he awkwardly asked me, "So-uh- was this seat taken?"_

 _"No, it's okay," I quickly replied, taking my eyes away from the man and continuing to observe my surroundings. "You can sit there."_

 _He paused for a moment, before saying, "Okay, good, great." Pausing again, he continued and held out his hand to me. "I'm Barry, by the way. Barry Allen."_

 _"Mary Parker," I replied hesitantly, shaking his hand._

 _"Like Spider-Man?"_

 _"What?"_

 _"It's like a mixture of two of the characters names," he explained with a grin. "Mary-Jane Watson and Peter Parker."_

 _"Yeah, my parents used to be obsessed with comic books," I commented with a smile, remembering how they used to tell me stories of superheroes who saved the day._

 _" **Please** tell me your middle name is Jane."_

 _"No, it's May," I replied bluntly, stretching my arms above my head._

 _"Even better." At that moment his phone rung, he quickly answered the call. He told the person on the other end that he was in the park and that he would be there soon. When he hung up the phone, he sighed and stood up from the park bench. "Well, I've got to go. See you around, Spidey."_


	4. listen

I eventually fell asleep on the couch, laying my head on Barry's chest. Being able to hear his heartbeat comforted me, slowly lulling me into a deep sleep. As I listened, I realised his heart was pumping faster than a normal. The thought was soon lost as my mind slipped into the dark abyss of unconsciousness.

When I woke up, I was in my bed, tucked in underneath my duvet and still in the same clothes that I had fallen asleep in. Barry had left and my apartment was silent.

I groggily fumbled with my phone as I messily grabbed it from my bedside table. The screen flash to life displaying the time; 8:46. I'd only slept for close to 2 hours, so now I wouldn't be able to get back to sleep until the early morning. Great. I tucked the hairs that had come loose from my bun, behind my ear and walked out of my room back into the living area.

I stared out the large window into the familiar city lights, wondering what was happening in somebody else's life right now. There is someone being born and dying every second. Somewhere, someone is waking up to a sunrise while another is falling asleep to a sunset. Someone is living a luxurious life while someone else is sleeping on the streets.

"You've changed," a voice broke me away from my endless thoughts, making me jump in fright. "Sorry."

Emerging from the dark corridor, he stood next to me and watched over the city as I was doing. "Barry, it's been nine months."

"I know," He sighed, rubbing his eyes. "Mary, I-" He paused. "What happened to you while I was in the coma?"

"I don't know, okay?" I said honestly, rubbing my temple. "All I know is that I'm breaking, Barry, and I don't want anyone to be around me when I do."

"I'm here for you," beginning to raise his voice. "I'm not going to leave you-"

"You already did!" I yelled, glaring at him and lowering my voice back to a whisper. "You already did. You were gone when I needed you most."

He made an attempt to cut in. "I know you couldn't control what happened, Barry. I visited you almost every day for five months and then I gave up," I sighed, hugging myself tightly as if I would fall apart. "I just gave up on waiting for you to wake up. I gave up on everything."

"Why?"

It was such a simple question, but I couldn't tell him the answer. I couldn't tell him the truth because that means that I would have to accept what has been happening to me. I'd have to see it as more than a dream, more than something that I made up in my mind, more than a faux reality. If I told him that I was hearing things, I would probably be locked up in an insane asylum for the rest of my life and that is obviously not the way I want to live out the rest of my life.

"I don't know," my voice was quiet, hugging my body tighter.

Barry didn't say anything for a few minute, but those minutes felt almost like hours for me; they dragged on for longer than was comfortable. He knew I wasn't telling the whole truth. "I want to show you something," he finally said, breaking the hair-pullingly tense silence.

I quickly glanced down at what I was wearing, deeming it suitable enough to go out into the city. I had absolutely no idea as to where he was planning to take me, causing me to become curious. I really hate secrets. I grabbed my car keys off of my kitchen counter, throwing them towards Barry who quickly caught them before they hit his face.

"You have really good reflexes for someone who just woke up from a coma," I observed, trying to lighten the mood slightly.

"Yeah," he trailed off, staring at the keys in his hand for a moment before remembering what they were for. "You're letting me drive your car?"

"I don't know where this 'thing' is that you want to show me, you do," I stated simply, walking towards the door and grabbing my jacket that was laid over the arm of my couch. "And I figured if your reflexes are **that** good, you'll be fine while driving. So, let's leave and get to wherever we're going."

He quickly followed me out the door without argument and shut the door behind him, rattling the handle to make sure it was locked. I continued to the elevator and pressed the circular button with an arrow pointing down, subconsciously crossing my arms. At that moment, the voices began to fill my head again and I spaced out listening to them. Screams. Cries. Laughter. The murmur of background noise.

"-ry," I heard a voice that sounded closer, but was muffled as if I was underwater. "Mary!"

The voices stopped abruptly as my name was yelled at me. "Ow!" I quickly covered my ear and swatted Barry's hand away that was waving in front of my face. "What was that for?"

"The elevator is here and you just completely spaced out," Barry explained, pulling me into the metal box with him. "I tried calling your name 8 times, it was like you couldn't even hear me. Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'll be fine, Barry. I swear, thing have just been a bit rough for me lately and I guess I'm just tired."

Eventually the door opened to the garage where my car was parked and we stepped out of the elevator. In that moment I realised that I haven't used my car in the last few months. I would walk to the supermarket down the street from my apartment to get groceries and that was about it. Yeah, I've lost my car. I have no idea where to start looking for it. I barely even know if I parked it on this floor of the garage, let alone which part of it.

"Okay, well," I cleared my throat, looking up at Barry then back at the numerous rows of automobiles. "We've hit a bit of a bump in the road tonight."

"What do you mean?"

"I have no idea where I last parked my car."


	5. impossible

We spent the next half an hour searching for my car and my eyes lit up when I saw my familiar red Chevrolet Corvette. Barry held up the keys and pressed the unlock button, the car came to life opening the doors with its hazard lights flashing quickly. I held back a squeal of delight, moving towards the passenger door with excited. I tugged the handle of the door pulling it open and practically throwing my body into the black leather seat, then running my hands over every part of it's insides I could touch.

"Oh god, I missed you," I said lovingly to my car, placing my head on the dashboard.

"Do you want me to give you two a moment?" Barry said, jokingly when he slipped into the driver's seat.

"Yes, thank you," I replied, leaning over him and opening his door. "Out you get."

"Seriously?" His eyebrows were raised in surprise.

"No, let's go. The curiosity is eating me alive!"

Barry pulled his car door shut again, put the car into gear and drove out of the garage. It's engine echoed through the streets of Central City as we roared towards our location, causing a smile to be plastered on my face. It was nearing close to 11pm when we finally arrived and the moment I looked out the window, I knew where we were.

"What are we doing here, Barry?" I asked with caution, staring up at the building that I used to work in. We had parked next to the alleyway and my stomach dropped as the memory of falling came back to me.

"I told you," he replied simply, repeating what he had told me before we left. "I want to show you something."

He opened the car door and walked around to the mouth of the dark alley, I took a deep breath before following him out. The cold air hit my face, my breath turning into puffs of steam every time I exhaled and my hair rustling slightly with the swirling breeze. The shadows of the alley seemed like they were reaching out to me with their clawed hands as if trying to drag me in. My eyes widened in fear, but they were quickly chased away when Barry clicked on a torch and filled the alley with enough light to guide our way.

"Come on," he said softly, holding out his hand for me. I grabbed it without hesitation and let him guide me through the place that haunted my dreams. We stopped suddenly and he began to explain the true purpose as to why we were here. "Something happened to me today. Something that I thought was _impossible._ I just feel like I can trust you with this and I know how you can be such an open minded person, so I'm just going to show you."

He placed the flashlight in my free hand and slowly backed away letting go of the hand that was grasping mine, staying in the light of the torch. I watched him silently as he pulled the keys for my car out of his pocket and threw them to me, quickly catching them in my hand. I went to look back at Barry, but the alley was empty. I then felt someone's breath on the back of my neck and on reflex span around to punch them. They caught my fist before it hit their face.

"Since when did you get so strong?" Barry's voice came from the figure and I yanked my hand out of his.

"How the hell did you do that?" I gasped, backing away from him, perplexed as to what just happened.

"The night that the Particle Accelerator exploded, I think it did something to me," he stated, calmly. "I started to notice it after I woke up. I went to see Iris and when I was like it was time slowed down for a moment."

I rolled my eyes at that and chuckled. "It's called love, Barry."

He blushed at that comment. "No, I'm serious. Listen, after that we went to the station to see Joe and there was a detainee there who tried to grab an officer's gun and I was able to get over to him and back within a second."

"Adrenaline?" I offered lamely.

"No one can move that fast, Mary. No one even **saw** me."

"OK," my voice wavered slightly, I looked him directly in the eyes. "Show me."

Before, I could even blink he had swept me into his arms. My hair whipped around and my stomach started doing flips at the rapid acceleration of speed. I watched lights fly past in a blur and looked up at Barry's face. His gaze was concentrated on dodging pedestrians and cars as we shot down streets and along sidewalks, a light smile playing on his lips. My body was able to quickly adapt to the speed and time seemed to slow down for a moment as I saw his eyes flicker with electricity. We finally slowed back down and came to a complete stop back at my car.

Barry put me down and quickly started to stomp out the sudden fire that had started on the bottoms of his shoes, causing my eyes to widen and look up at him in confusion. "Friction," he shrugged his shoulders, as smoke rose from the burnt soles.

"Okay, let me get this straight. You have powers?" He nodded. "That give you the ability to move really fast?" Nod. "And I'm the only person you've told about this?"

"Yes."

"Why me? You could've told Iris or Joe first. I mean this is pretty big, Barry, and I'm talking about life-changing big. So, why me?"

"Mary, I've been friends with you for as long as I can remember and you've been there for me, supported me through everything," he explained, looking at me directly. "You always believe I could do the impossible and now that I've become it, I need you to continue to believe in me."

"Always." _I just can't believe in myself._

I furrowed my brows when I realised something. "Wait here," I ordered, looking past Barry, who looked puzzled with. With the torch still clutched tightly in my hand, I clicked it on and moved past him into dark alley. _It should be here._ I remember there being a crater when the impact happened. _Maybe they repaired it._ As soon as that thought past through my head, I tripped, squealing as the cement came closer to my face. When I didn't hit the ground, I opened my eyes to see myself hovering a few inches from the ground. I heard Barry begin to run over and I suddenly hit the ground.

"Ow." I complained, even though it the fall didn't affect or hurt me in anyway.

"Woah," Barry gawked at me, looking down at me as I lay on the ground on the alley.

"What?" I groaned, rolling over and looking up at him with a straight face. I held my breath, hoping that he didn't see what had occurred while I fell.

"It amazes me how, even after all the years I've known you, you can _still_ trip over nothing."

"That's an amazing observation, Barry," I replied sarcastically, rolling my eyes. "Now can you please help me up?"

He held out his hand for me and I grabbed it, letting out a quiet sigh of relief as he pulled me to my feet. At least now I know I'm not as alone as I thought.


End file.
